@gabriel__lewis Its a clean, mobile-first, mobile-only app. It's obvious how much Google prioritized and optimized for mobile. That's a good thing. But, their strategy in social and comms has always been complex for mainstream users to navigate. I wish they had done what FB did with Insta stories. Why build a standalone competitive app when you can rebrand and redesign an existing app (ie. Hangouts)? Reliance on phone numbers for contacts is a smart hook but I'm surprised they didn't make it a default, pre-installed app in Android for distribution and adoption. It feels to me that this is not only a move to have Apple users use Google stuff on iPhones but also giving Android users one less reason to jump ships. In this regard, it's thinking is similar to Insta/FB. If you can't win back folks, just prevent users you have from jumping ships.

@monst3rtruck@gabriel__lewis you have to thing longterm. This is not for the early adopters who move from shiny object to shiny object. It's for the masses. The majority of whom are Android users outside of USA. Inside it's 50/50

@sarthakgh@gabriel__lewis Agree! First q I had was, how is this different from Hangouts?? I was a huge advocate for the Google Nexus 5 for years (before I switched to iPhone) but this isn't convincing to me.